WWE WrestleMania 31 Results: Biggest Stars of the Night
WWE's flagship pay-per-view is the one time above all others when wrestlers are looking to make a name for themselves, and WrestleMania 31 was no exception to that rule.
The very concept has been ingrained in WWE culture for so long that it has been given an official title, with wrestlers and fans alike referring to each standout performance and important happening as simply a "WrestleMania moment."
Unfortunately for the 30-plus Superstars involved in this card, not all can be booked in a way to give them a proper share of the spotlight.
Still, there were opportunities for a number of men and women to come out of this event looking brighter than ever or at least to become talking points for the coming weeks.
Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns fought it out for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with heavy implications on the landscape of 2015 for the company.
Likewise, the Intercontinental Championship and United States Championship were positioned in a way where they could be elevated to new heights with new titleholders crowned.
The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt faced off to determine who is the true face of fear, while Sting and Triple H battled as the representative faces of WCW and WWE respectively.
Keeping in mind victories, quality performances and noteworthy angles, which wrestlers were able to carve their names into the history books?
It's time to break down the biggest stars of the night from the 2015 edition of WrestleMania.
Honorable Mention: Ronda Rousey
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Despite not being on the roster or even being a member of WWE in any capacity, the UFC Women's Bantamweight champion will undoubtedly get more press coverage than nearly anybody else who appeared on the show.
Her status as a celebrity keeps her off the list officially, but there is absolutely no way Ronda Rousey isn't one of the most talked about aspects of WrestleMania.
Speculation will run rampant as to if or when a mixed tag team match will take place featuring Rousey, The Rock, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
For a segment that was predominantly filling up time, a lot of press will come out of it and possibly even a brand-new star for the company if Rousey were to follow Brock Lesnar's lead and sign up for a contract with WWE.
5. Damien Mizdow
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Big Show may have won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but the true standout of the match was definitely Damien Mizdow.
Being outclassed by the biggest man in the company is certainly not something to be ashamed of, nor is coming second place in a match where over 20 other stars were involved.
Mizdow took the necessary steps to initiate the next phase of his feud with The Miz, which will undoubtedly continue over the coming weeks leading up to Extreme Rules.
This could be the start of a big push for Mizdow—the man everyone will be talking about when it comes to the Battle Royal highlights.
4. Rusev or John Cena
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Yes, you read that correctly—this spot goes to either Rusev or John Cena.
If you are looking at this in a kayfabe sense, then John Cena should be even higher up on this list and a definitive name in the biggest-stars-of-the-night grouping.
After all, he's the top guy in the company, and he was able to do what nobody else could do by pinning Rusev and taking away his United States Championship.
Winning the title is impressive, beating Rusev is impressive, being the figurehead of WWE and America in general and doing it all at WrestleMania all combined means that he is without a doubt one of the biggest stars.
However, if you look at this through different eyes, that is all invalidated.
The crowd did not give Cena the response WWE was hoping he would get, nor was the quality of the match as good as the company will tout it to have been.
This whole feud revolved around Rusev being the star. Without Rusev being a heat magnet with his gimmick, there would be no program to build around.
Rusev did more for this feud than Cena and was given the short end of the stick at this event, but he is likely going to be bouncing back much easier in comparison to how Cena has proved yet again that he cannot win over the crowd.
3. Daniel Bryan
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For arguably the most popular star currently in WWE to not be a prominently featured person on The Grandest Stage of Them All would have been a total surprise.
Daniel Bryan opened the show not only with his introduction, but also won the Intercontinental Championship in a hard-fought, highly entertaining match.
The title is in good hands with Bryan, who was endorsed by several legends in a backstage segment to help reiterate that fact.
Bryan will be as entertaining as ever going forward and will help elevate the Intercontinental Championship in turn.
There are plenty of stars who were featured in this match, but Bryan was the one who was shining the brightest going in and going out.
2. Tie: Sting, the nWO, Triple H and DX
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Both Sting and Triple H are rightfully two of the biggest stars of the night and could be given separate spots on their own, but an even stronger entry to this list would be the collective participants of the segment combined.
Part of the reason the Sting vs. Triple H match was so much fun was the people who hadn't been announced to begin with: Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, X-Pac and Shawn Michaels.
DX and the nWo are perhaps the top stables to evoke warm feelings of nostalgia from the Attitude Era, and anyone who was a fan in the 1990s had to have had flashbacks to some of his or her favorite moments while watching this.
Still, credit is due to Triple H and Sting for having a good match and, despite not being the young up-and-coming stars on the main roster, going out there and putting on a great show in general.
1. Seth Rollins
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Do not misunderstand this as a slight to Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar, as they are assuredly two of the top biggest stars of the night, but seeing as how neither of them walked away with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, something special needs to happen with this list.
Seth Rollins did something that nobody else has ever done by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract not only at WrestleMania, but while a match was going on.
This was nothing short of amazing, and as good as both Reigns and Lesnar look, Rollins is without a doubt the biggest star of the evening, with no others coming close to touching him.
Who are some of the other names that need to be on this list? How would you rank everyone?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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